Subtle and Steady Wins the Race by Katherine Higgins
Seven year old
been a long time… A long time, and a good time.”
Katherine Higgins bounced up and down in the backseat of her mother’s white ford focus, for once not minding the NPR show that hadn’t yet grown into her affections like horses had. Dust billowed out behind the car as they rolled to a stop in front of a wooden lesson office, yellow paint faded from years in the sun. Christmas lights twinkled from the rafters of the porch, though it was only July. “You must be Katherine! I’m Marie, and I’ll be your instructor unless you decide you don’t like me and want to ride with someone else.” The woman standing in front of Katherine and her mother was short, but not too short, with at least a dozen piercings in each ear, and a smile whiter than a movie star’s. “You’re not old and grumpy! How can you be a teacher?” Katherine was baffled, her mother embarrassed, but Marie just laughed and brought Katherine over to the first horse she’d ride at Webb Ranch. Nine years later, Marie recounted the story with the same bright smile, “Yea you and your brother were some of my first students right after I turned 18 that spring. It’s
Marie started riding at Webb when she was just 9 years old, and started teaching the day after she turned 18, which is “when the insurance kicks in and starts to cover you”. She had always loved horses, but never imagined it as a full out career. Teaching people to ride has seen Marie through college, the acquisition of three dogs, moving to Santa Cruz, even an elopement, but she’s still not really sure what kept her coming back.
As a 9 year old, Marie
wasn’t super confident. Her family supported her riding, but made it clear that it shouldn’t be her only career choice. However, Marie still wanted to be a good rider, and started riding with Megan because she had heard good things about her students and how they performed at competitions. When she got to her first lesson, though, Marie felt intimidated and shy. She rapidly went through three instructors before she started riding with Summer, who owns the lesson program at Webb. She remembers “almost 1